Hot100 Update--Week 1

Today is rainy and gray with a tropical storm dropping buckets of rain all up and down the east coast.  I'm going to insert the ultra bright Hot 100 logo to add a little warmth and color to my day.  Yesterday was the end of the first week of the challenge.  There are only 13 more weeks left in the year to reach my goals.

Okay here are my goals:

1. Reach my goal weight by Jan 1st by following the WW CORE plan, weigh & record my weight each morning, attend weekly WW meetings.
2. Exercise at least 6 out of 7 days with varied exercise including at least 2 strength workouts and 3 cardio workouts each week averaging 60 minutes per session.
3. Keep my house and my body chocolate free.  This includes dark chocolate, chocolate chips, chocolate candy bars and any baked goods that have chocolate in them.

Here's how I did this week:   (hint = :D )

1. I started with 17 pounds to lose.  I lost 1 pound at my WW meeting.  I followed my plan and tracked my weight each morning. Now I have 16 pounds to lose in 13 weeks. Doable, no?
2. I exercised every day this week if you include one 45 minute Wii tennis match (and I do).  I did 3 strength training sessions and 3 cardio sessions and my workouts averaged 60+ minutes.
3. Not that I wasn't tempted by the evil bakery ladies who purposely baked chocolate chip cookies while I was grocery shopping and fanned the air so that a very sinful, come-hither aroma wafted all over the store, but I remain chocolate free.

I'm going to post this early today (10 am).  My posts usually take several hours to appear to you all for some reason.  Don't miss yesterday's post, if you haven't seen it!  UPDATE:  Of course this one shows in the blog roll in just 45 minutes.  Go figure!

Take Care!   Good Luck in the week to come for all my fellow-travelers.

Numbers Game, WI

0       The number of days I've taken "off" from exercising in the past month

1       The number of bloggers on my blog roll that I will have met by the end of the week!

2       The number of strength workouts I do at the gym each week

3       The number of consecutive Turkish Get Ups I can do in my Kettle bell workout

4       The number of "sticks o' butter" I lost at today's WI

5       The number of months I've been blogging

7      The number of days since I've eaten any chocolate

7       The number of inches I've lost from my hips
8       The number of lemons I bought today
10     The number beginning to appear on the labels of my clothing
13     The number of weeks left in the Hot 100 Challenge
15     The number of days until I meet my 2nd blog roll friend!
16     The number of additional pounds I will lose to reach my WW goal
22     The number of weeks I've been seriously working on losing weight
29.2  The number of pounds I've lost since I got serious
32     The number of miles of my longest bike ride (yet)
39.2  The number of pounds I've lost since my highest known weight
41     The number of Followers to my blog.  Thank you, thank you!
59     The number of years since I was born
59.9  The number of miles I've run per month on avg for the past 4 months
62     The number of miles of an upcoming Bike Holiday ride, done over two days
93     The number of years my dear father has lived
179   The number of pounds I weighed at my WI today
1012 The number of miles I've run in the past 23 months

Yes, green is good!

Seven Successful Days in the Hot 100

179.0

Juggling

Some days I feel like a juggler.  I watch babies, pay bills, do dishes, plan meals, do grocery shopping, try to always have regular nap times for the children,  do my Bible study lessons, visit my Dad, take care of all his financial things, write blog posts, do gardening chores, pick up a lot of toys, make beds, make breakfast, lunch and/or dinner for up to 6 people on a regular basis, and laundry (yes, there's always laundry). Oh, and church and choir practice and my WW meeting and getting my hair done and . . .  well, you get the picture. On top of that I'm trying very hard to exercise for at least an hour every day and to eat in accordance with my weight loss plan.

The last time I interviewed for a job, one of the questions was whether I was good at multi-tasking.   And how.  Uninterrupted time to just focus on one thing just doesn't happen very often.  (I must have had a convincing answer because I got the job.)

I once went to a conference where a professional juggler attempted to teach all of us how to juggle at least 3 things.  It's harder than it looks.  We started with small chiffon scarves which were pretty forgiving because they floated slowly enough so that we novice jugglers could snatch them out of the air.  I graduated to 4 scarves and was able to keep the pattern going for a couple minutes.  I've forgotten how, but I remember that I really had to concentrate to keep all four scarves in the air.

The point of all this is that it's hard work learning how to juggle or multi-task to do everything we have to do AND to exercise and eat and learn to exercise and eat the way we need to for good.  And I think we deserve KUDOS, all of us, for doing it.  Look over my blog roll--almost all these bloggers are doing it--learning and practicing how to eat and exercise for a healthy life.

And here's a diagram so you can learn to juggle three things--easy, no??

Hugs and Congratulations to ALL of us.

Do It Anyway!

It's Saturday afternoon and I need to run today.  I should have gone out this morning.  It's one of the goals I set in the Hot 100 Challenge. I've planned it, there's nothing else I have to do instead, I'm already dressed and my ipod is fully charged.  The thing is, I don't wanna go run right now.  It's hot today, tomorrow's supposed to be lots cooler. Stanford is playing Notre Dame in football starting in 10 minutes. (GO Cardinal!) Maybe later? Maybe tomorrow?  Maybe after I spend a couple of hours in blog land?

Ironically, my motivational reading for today (from 100 Days of Weight Loss) was titled:  Do it Anyway.  There are all kinds of things in life that we don't want to or like to do.  Changing a dirty diaper.  Running to the bathroom in the middle of a movie.  Doing the laundry.  We might procrastinate a little, but, in the end, you have to do it anyway.  

Running today is something that I have to do.  Even though I don't want to, I'm going to do it anyway. I can cheer on Stanford after I get back.  

See you later--I'm heading out for a run.

UPDATE
I did it anyway.  I just got back from a 4+ mile run.  It wasn't the best run ever; it was hot and I walked more than I'd have liked to.  All that is true.  But, I DID it.  And that feels great.  And Stanford is ahead at half time.  :D


How am I doing on my goals for the Hot 100?

• 60 minutes of exercise--CHECK
• No chocolate--CHECK
• Eating on my WW plan--CHECK  to lose 17 pounds by Jan 1st--We'll See!

Oh, you might have noticed another challenge in my sidebar--the Fall Focus Challenge with the orange & black with a Jack-o-Lantern logo.  Because I have a strong sense of loyalty and the Spring and Summer Focus Challenges really got me going I've joined yet another challenge.  This one starts on Monday September 27th and goes until December 6th.  For this challenge I have kept the same goals as the goals I set for the Hot 100 (above), only adjusting the weight loss goal to 13 pounds because this is a shorter time.  I figure it can't hurt to reinforce those goals.  If you'd like to join, just click on the Jack-o-Lantern in the right sidebar to link to the site.

I'm feeling very confident about riding out the rest of the day following my goals, herewith my chart:

Off and Running!

Today is the first day of the Hot 100 challenge.  I'm calling it Day 100 and crossing it off on my chart because I survived it in fine fashion.  I met all my goals easily in the first flush of challenge enthusiasm.  I have a book that I've decided to use during this challenge.  It's  Linda Spangle's A Daily Motivator  100 Days of Weight Loss:  The Secret to Being Successful on Any Diet Plan.  She doesn't even talk about what foods to eat, but instead has 100 days worth of short  (two page) topical essays. She addresses motivational issues like food triggers, getting support from family & friends, slowing down your eating, and emotional eating.  For today, for instance, she challenged the reader to think about something s/he may be afraid of concerning these next 100 days.  I admit I'm a little scared of failure because I've NEVER reached my WW goal in several past serious efforts.  She asks the reader to make a new ending to that fear and write it down.  Mine was "I've tried many times to reach my WW goal, but always before, I've failed, BUT this time I'm a lot more knowledgeable about the right things to eat, I have embraced regular exercise, and I have a great support network at home and on my blog so I CAN and I WILL succeed."

I've noticed over the past few days that my rate of eating is starting to creep back up to "rather speedy" in relation to Jay, my really slow eater, and to DH.  I'm going to have to do a little clock watching and slow things down a bit again.  Eating slowly really does help me enjoy my food more and also give me time to hear my "I'm Full" signal before I eat more than I need.

What I Saw, WI, Don't Let this Happen to YOU

Wednesday morning are uber busy for me, with an early alarm, breakfast, a last-chance run,  a quick visit to my Dad, my Bible Study (BSF), and then my WI at noon.  It did not go by so fast, though, that I neglected to notice a new decade on the scale when I got back from my run! 179.6  HELLO 170s!  I haven't seen a 7 as the middle number for fourteen months!  This is only the first peek at the 170s, and the just out of the shower, unclothed weight, so my WI (fully clothed, at noon)  still has an 8 as the middle number, but I sure do love the trend!  :D

I did have a planned encounter with some yummy Thai food on Friday night and it took some intensive water drinking and a couple of days to reverse the upswing in my morning weights.  The Thai food was great and I limited the damage by hopping right back on the wagon after our dinner out.  Here's the physics diet graph.  The first red bumps are from my bike holiday, the second from the Thai food. Remember, green is good.  Oh, also, note that these weights are my first thing morning weights on my own scale and not my WI weights. My own scale usually weighs me a bit more unclothed than the WW scale clothed.  It doesn't bother me because each seems consistent to itself.

My WI today was also a happy time as I dropped two pounds, or 8 Sticks o' Butter in Paula Deen speak.

This all means that my goals for the Hot 100 Challenge, include a weight loss goal of 17 pounds (my WW goal) between now (tomorrow) and January 1st. I think I can do it. I think I CAN do it. I WILL do it.

The other thing I saw today?  I was very thirsty and stopped by the grocery on my way home from WW.  I searched in the coolers near the checkout until I found a diet Pepsi.  I don't often drink sodas these days, but, somehow that's what I wanted. I felt pretty virtuous standing there with just one bottle of diet soda in the checkout line and I studiously ignored the piteous cries from the chocolates in the candy  bar display begging for one last date with me before my no-chocolate ban is official at midnight tonight.  I got into my hot car and enjoyed the icy cold Pepsi during the half hour ride home. It was only when I pulled into my garage and picked up the bottle to toss it in the recycle bin that I noticed it was not a diet Pepsi.  It was a Throwback Pepsi. "Throwback, made with Real Sugar." Aaaugh!  Don't Let This Happen to YOU!

180.0

Regular Pepsi--Notice the bright BLUE label??

Diet Pepsi--the Label is Light Silver

Throwback--full sugar--  NO FAIR!!

Hot 100 Goals

One hundred days seems like a long time, but I know from experience that without mindful attention those days will fly by.  I don't intend to let that happen.  I am going to use those days, all one hundred of them to further my progress towards my goals.  The Hot 100 count down starts day after tomorrow,  and I have been thinking about my goals.  Here they are:

1.  I will reach my official WW goal by Jan 1st.  My WI is tomorrow and I'll post again to give you the exact pound total I am going to lose.  [Right now it's 19, but I'm expecting that number to go down tomorrow.]  I will weigh myself and record my weight each morning.  I will follow the CORE (Simply Filling) WW plan.  I will go to my WW meetings, weigh in and stay for the lecture every week.

2.  I will continue exercise for at least 6 out of 7 days every week.  I will vary the exercise to include running, biking, strength workouts, Praise Moves (yoga), and Kettle Bells.  I will have at least 2 strength workouts and 3 cardio workouts each week. My workouts will average 60 minutes per session.

3.  I will keep my house and my body chocolate free.  I will not buy, eat, or bring into my house ANY chocolate.  This includes my beloved dark chocolate with orange, chocolate chips, chocolate candy bars (Almond Joy--are you listening?), or any baked goods that have chocolate in them.

It's not too late to join this challenge.  What are you going to do with those last 100 days of this year?

A Picture is Worth a THOUSAND

I have run  and recorded (a smidge over) 1000 miles since I got my Nike+ on October 10, 2008.   I'm very proud of myself.   I've run winter and summer, through rain and snow, in bright sunshine and in pre-dawn darkness, through thick and thin(ner), when I felt like it and when I didn't. I've run with friends and by myself, on a treadmill (for <10 of those miles) and outside. I've had lots of walking time on my runs and a few 5K races.  I've run in jeans (once) and in my comfy running capris.  I've run to books on tape and to my favorite 60s rock. I've tripped, fallen, and scraped my knees. I've seen bald eagles, prothonatory warblers,  snakes, red winged blackbirds, frogs, wooly caterpillars, squirrels, chipmunks, a fox and a snapping turtle.  I've watched the sun rise, watched it set, been the first to make footprints in new fallen snow, and watched  great Vs of Canada Geese majestically moving through the sky over the broad Potomac.   I'm really a runner!

Thinking Ahead

You might have noticed the colorful new link on my sidebar.  I've joined South Beach Steve in his 100 day challenge.  It's still incredible to me that we're in the new millennium, much less that there are only 100 days left in 2010 (as of next Friday).  I am so close to reaching my WW goal, but it seems to me that I've started treading water in the pool for a while now and that I haven't been making much progress.  I know I CAN do it, but now is the time to declare I WILL do it.  And I'll reach my WW goal before January 1st 2011.  So there.  Click on the sidebar picture to link to the details of the challenge, I'd love some company.

Thank you for your encouraging words to my post last Wednesday.  I admit I was discouraged, but reading your comments and your posts has helped me regain my drive.  I've had a bit of a problem with Mr. Munch over the past couple days, but I've kept up with my exercise and the fridge is stocked with good healthy food for the coming days.  And yes, I drowned the offending contraband in the sink and then consigned it to the trash can in the garage.

This morning was beautiful (again!) and I ran over 5 miles.  Some time this week my Nike+ gal in the right sidebar will shout that I've run 1000 miles (that's since mid Oct 2008).  I'll be sure to mention it that day.  Stay tuned.  I went to Praise Moves again on Friday.  I was able to stay for the entire 75 minute class and it really felt really good.  The stretching is great for my body and it makes me more mindful of my posture.  In addition I like the company.  Tomorrow I think DH and I will try to get in a long bike ride (unless he has another soccer game to referee in which case I'll go alone).  I want to ride over to DC to the beginning of the C&O canal trail.  I really want to bike the C&O from Harper's Ferry to DC this fall.

One of the beautiful lilies from my garden

So far I'm doing pretty well in fitting in all the things I need and want to do in my days.  I think that, like so many of you, I might cut down on my time spent blogging (writing and reading) if I find my days getting too short.  I'd hate to do that, so I'm going to see if I can be a bit more disciplined in how I spend my time.   We'll see.

Happy Week End.

Just Desserts

I received this lovely award from Deb (Deb Will be FREE) and fulfilled the first requirement on Tuesday.    The Rules for Eligibility are: 1. Answer the question, "If you had one chance to go back and change one thing in your life, would you and what would it be? 2. Pass on to six people and inform them of the award. 


Today I'm delighted to nominate six bloggers who have "Beautiful Blogs with that Little Bit Extra." 


1. Mandy  at Aunt Mandy's Good Choices Blog
2. Lori at Finding Radience
3. Liz at Liz is Losing Weight
4.  Cammy at Tippy Toe Diet
5.  Kimert at Just Another Mom on the Run
6.  Andrew at Andrew's Blog

Wordless Wednesday, WI

Weight Loss Trend--Green is Good (Red was Biking Holiday Weekend)

WI today, +1.2 pounds, 5 sticks o' butter :-(

I'm relying on the news from the first image rather than the news from my WI--I'm sure it's a temporary blib.  It doesn't feel great though, so  Read My Lips, Mr. Scale!  I don't want to see more added sticks o' butter again.  Capiche?

182.0

Terrific Tuesday

Two year old E, mixing her mom's birthday cake.

Well, today seemed almost as busy as yesterday!  I had promised E that she could help me make her mom's birthday cake. She takes her job seriously (note the blue polka dot apron).  When we've cooked before,"helping"  meant washing hands, wearing an apron and dumping things in a bowl after I'd measured them.  Well, I'm here to tell you that she wasn't having that.  No, she wanted to do the measuring.  She wanted to crack the eggs.  And she wanted to wield the electric mixer.  Did I mention this is a chocolate cake?  I gave her an extra reminder NOT to lift the mixer and stepped back to take her picture.  She was great!  And the cake turned out wonderfully well.  I had a very thin sliver (DH noted it was  about 4 crumbs thick!).               

And there were more sweets in my day, too.  Cupcakes with a Cherry on Top!  This one is a blogger award from Deb at Deb Will Be FREE.  Thank you Deb!  And there's no calorie expenditure for this sweet treat!  Even better.

The Rules for Eligibility are: 1. Answer the question, "If you had one chance to go back and change one thing in your life, would you and what would it be? 2. Pass on to six people and inform them of the award. 


I'm going to follow Deb's lead and do part 1 today and part 2 tomorrow.  So, what would I change?  At first I thought, duh, I'd learn these things I'm learning now soooo much earlier in my life, but then, no, I don't think so.  I've actually loved my life.  I've never been one to wish myself younger--I've lived a great life and had some wonderful relationships, friendships and experiences. I think all my experiences, through thick and thin, have worked together to make me who I am.   What I'd change is I'd let my young self know is that I was eventually going to get the hang of living at a healthy weight.  




I changed my plan from last night and decided to make two pans of lasagna--one traditional and one seafood (instead of the lasagna roll ups).  The traditional lasagna is one I've made for 30 years.  It's an old WW recipe and my family thinks it's the best lasagna ever.  I made it for some Italian friends when we lived in Rome and they asked for the recipe, too.  It was good, but the seafood lasagna was AWESOME!   DIL loves seafood and doesn't eat ground beef, so I made it for her, but everybody else liked it, too.  That's the one I ate.  It had a few more "extras" than I usually eat (cream cheese, 2% milk, parmesan cheese, and mozzarella)  but I had a small piece and it was certainly within my calorie target--<350 per serving.   I've linked to the recipe, it's from a Cooking Light cookbook, but most of their recipes are online, too.


I did my gym workout after dinner.  There were only three of us in the workout room (such a nice change from the crowd at the beginning of January!).  I listen to a book on my ipod while I work out.  It really passes the time nicely and has the added benefit of keeping me going to the gym, because I don't allow myself to listen to that book except when I'm at the gym.


I'm hoping to knock off some more sticks o' butter at my WI tomorrow.  I'm going to get up early to run and I have my first BSF (Bible Study Fellowship--an intensive, year long Bible study of the book of Isaiah) before my noon WI.  My BFF (Best Friend Forever!) and I will go out for lunch together and then shopping.   Another full (fun) day.

Full Steam Ahead

I made up for my lazy day yesterday.  I got up early to do a run.  It was 60 degrees and perfect running weather.  I'm happy to report that my run was a lot better than it has been of late.  I felt good and was able to run without feeling the need to take walk breaks nearly as much.  I probably could have run the entire four miles without any breaks, but I knew what was coming, so I took it a bit easy. My pace was the fastest it's been in recent months.  I got home and just had time to catch a shower and dress before I went to my Praise Moves class.

I really liked the class.  I went to a yoga class last Saturday and enjoyed that class too, but it felt just a little strange assuming meditative poses without a clear focus for meditation.  I am a Christian and I like the fact that in the Praise Moves class the focus is very clearly on core beliefs that I hold dear.  Leslie mentioned in a comment to my last post that her teenage daughter  was practicing yoga at a Christian camp and was criticized and upset by a camp leader who told her that yoga was an "agent of the Devil" and non-Christian.  I'm so sorry that happened.  I think the person who said that was wrong to criticize and also wrong in her statement. To me yoga is a wonderful exercise, good for posture, balance, mental clarity and muscle tone as well as an ancient expression of faith and belief.  Our yoga leader last Saturday (who was an Indian American) sang to us as we did the final relaxation pose at the end.  She had a lovely voice and it was a beautiful song in Hindi and, as she explained to me later, it told the story of an early Hindu saint.  If I didn't have Praise Moves available, I would not hesitate to take the yoga class--not for any religious reason, but for its other benefits.  In the end, though, I loved the Praise Moves class, the leader was very good and the class was well paced.  I enjoyed spending time with some friends I seldom get to see.  The class is a drop-in class, offered three times a week.  I can't do three times a week, but will try to do at least one of the classes each week.

I got home just in time to receive J&E.   After I gave them lunch we walked over to the nearby elementary school.  They are both ga-ga over school buses!  We played on the front lawn while school let out and they got to see a lot of school buses.  We counted them.  Several times.  They loved seeing all the children and it was fun to see all the parents greeting their children.

Tomorrow is my DIL's birthday and they are coming to dinner.  I'm making lasagna roll ups (individual lasagnas made by rolling up a noodle with the filling, cinnamon roll style.  Because of different likes and allergies, I'm making both a standard (WW) lasagna and a seafood (scallop & shrimp) lasagna.  I have a detailed shopping list and am headed to the store early, before J&E get here.  I promised E that she could help me make the birthday cake.   She wanted to be sure that I have her apron ready.  (It's FUN being a grandmother!  I never wear aprons, but all of my grandchildren have them and wear them.)  It's the day before my WI, so I'm hoping that I can eat the way I should eat tomorrow without face planting in the cake or overindulging in the lasagna.  I'll send the leftovers home with the birthday girl.

Oh!  I'm delighted to report that when I did my kettle bell routine last night I was able to do TWO of the dreaded Turkish Get Ups!  The funny thing is that I could only do them from one side.  I couldn't wrap my head around reversing the moves.  I was most satisfied with my two though, and decided to rest on my laurels.  I also have graduated to doing most of the "real" moves rather than the abbreviated moves for beginners.  Yay me. Only six more sessions until my guaranteed results!!

Lazy Sunday

Today was a really relaxed day for me.  I slept late, but we got to church in time for choir practice.  When we got home after church, I read the paper, made my usual cottage cheese & fruit lunch and messed around on my computer.  Our Internet connection was out for part of the afternoon and you'd think I'd have gotten something accomplished, but no, I "whiled away the hours."  [name that tune!]

I made another old favorite for dinner tonight.  Osso Buco in the crock pot.  I think having dinner cooking all day so that it's ready at meal time sounds like such a good idea, but honestly, I don't like most meats cooked in the crock pot.  Except for this recipe.  It's a winner.  I first had Osso Buco when we lived in Italy.  It's basically a fall-off-the-bone beef stew.

Osso Buco

I also made a big green salad with my own vinaigrette dressing.

Big Green Salad with Avocados, Tomatoes, Pine nuts and Vinaigrette Dressing

I'm thinking about trying a new exercise class tomorrow.  It's sponsored through our church and is, essentially a Christian yoga.  I talked to the teacher today and think that I may go tomorrow just to see how things go.  I'll have to get up an hour earlier than normal to get my Monday run in.  Even if the class is great,  I need to see if the timing works out with my schedule.  It seems like it will be sort of tight, getting back to be here when J&E are dropped off.  We'll see. I don't want to over-extend myself, but I like the idea of the class and a couple of friends are planning to be there.

Our local guys are playing the Big Bad Cowboys as I type this.  It seems we're ahead--so far, but our team has been remarkably consistent in losing in the last play or two over the past couple of years.  GO Redskins! It would make DH really happy.  But I think there are a few of you who are for the Bad Guys.  No?  :)

Well, I still need to exercise today and, I think I can safely leave the rooting for the home team in DH's capable hands.  I'm off for a date with my Kettle Bells.  [do you still call it Kettle BellS if there's only one weight??]

I could while away the hours conferrin' with the flowers consultin' with the rain . And my head I'd be scratchin' While my thoughts were busy hatchin' if I only had a brain.  
Sung by the Scarecrow, from the Wizard of Oz

Be good!  

This recipe is from the WW cookbook "In Good Time--123 Slow Cooker Recipes to Come Home To."

You could put this together in a large pot with top and let it simmer (on low) for several hours if you don't have a crock pot.  

I put the things together in the  crock pot the night before and put it in the fridge, to be popped in the next morning. It filled the house with a heavenly aroma and everyone loved it, it's a winner! I served it with a  baked potato or whole wheat wide  noodles for a filling, wonderful 10 point dinner.

OSSO BUCO

2 tbsp all purpose flour
3/4 tsp pepper
4 (10 oz) veal shanks (1.5 inches thick) [you can substitute beef shanks]
1 TBSP olive oil
1 c chopped carrot (dice size cubes)
1 c chopped celery
1 c chopped onion

1 c sliced mushrooms [not in the original recipe, but a good addition IMHO]
1 large garlic clove, minced
1/2 c dry white wine [I use red or white, whichever I happen to have]
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes, drained
1 TBST chopped fresh rosemary
1/2 tsp salt
1 bay leaf
Rosemary sprigs (optional)

1. Combine flour and pepper in a pie plate or shallow dish; stir well. Dredge veal ini flour mixture; set aside.

2. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add veal; cook 2 minutes on each side or until browned. Place veal in a 4 quart electric slow cooker; set aside.

3. Add carrot and next 3 ingredients to skillet; saute over medium heat 5 minutes. Add wine, swcraping bottom of skillet to loosen browned bits. Cook 1 minute. Pour vegetable mixture over veal iin slow cooker. Add tomatoes, rosemary, salt, and bay leaf. Cover with lid; cook on high heat setting 1 hour. Reduce to low heat setting, and cook 6 to 7 hours or until veal is tender. Discard bay leaf. Garnish with rosemary sprigs, if desired. Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 veal shank and 1.25 cups sauce).

Points 7; diabetic exchanges 3 veg, 6 L Meat

Per serving:; Cal 328, Pro 48.3g, Fat 7.6 g (sat 1.8 g), CARB 14.6, Fiber 3.0, Chol 180mg, Iron 2.9mg, Sod 638, CALC 103mg.

Something Old, Something New

You might have read here recently that we eat at home a lot more than we used to. We both like it that way. I love to cook. I have time to cook now. And it's a lot easier to plan healthy meals when we eat at home. The only problem is, despite my cookbook addiction, I tend to make the same things over and over. So I started leafing through my recipes and I found an "oldie but goodie." World's Fair Chicken.  It's a baked chicken dish with an orange curry sauce flavored with chutney and cinnamon.  There are also almonds and raisins in the sauce. My mother used to make this and it was one of the first meals I made for DH when we were married.  I used to make it all the time, but I haven't made it in a couple of years.  Why? Because it's not on my plan. Or is it??

This is one of those recipes that I know pretty much by heart. But when I actually looked at the recipe I noticed something strange.  Over the years (37 of them to be exact) the proportions that I use have changed.  DH (and I) love raisins, so instead of the 1/2 cup called for in the recipe, I usually put in a full cup.  The almonds are so good that I doubled that amount, too. And sometimes I'd make double the sauce (double sauce with double double raisins and almonds)--it's so good with rice.  Oh, and it was only within the past several months that I finally realized that I didn't need to serve myself TWO pieces of chicken (is that double double sauce with double double double double raisins and almonds???).

I just put the ingredients through the online WW points calculator. The sauce adds only 2.5 points to a naked piece of chicken. My eating plan (WW CORE or Simply Filling) can and does allow for a few extra points each day. DH just got home from refereeing a soccer game and immediately noticed the wonderful aromas coming from the kitchen. Some nice sugar snap peas, some brown rice and we're going to have a great dinner. I'll try to get a picture before it disappears! Time out for dinner . . . .

World's Fair Chicken on Brown Rice

I'm not an ace photographer, but believe me, this is great. Oh yes. World's Fair Chicken (the original recipe) is going to take its rightful place in our dinner lineup again.

Something new today was yoga. I went to my first-ever yoga class today. I liked it. There were only five of us there and the teacher was very good about giving us individual attention.  The others had all had some yoga lessons, but this was a beginner class so we got perhaps more demonstration and explanation between poses than is usual. The class will be once a week on Saturdays--pretty easy to fit into my schedule.

I did go for a run today, but not a long one as I'd planned. I ran a little over three miles. It felt good and I felt like stopping.  So I did.

Hoping you're making discoveries, both old and new.

Here's the recipe for my new-found favorite chicken dish:

World’s Fair Chicken

8 chicken thighs, skinless 

2 T butter [I omit this, if you use it add 1/2 WW point per serving]

Salt & Pepper to taste

1.5 C Orange Juice

.5 C Raisins or Currants

.25 C Chopped Chutney

.5 C Slivered Almonds [or chopped whole almonds]

.5 tsp cinnamon

.5 tsp curry powder

Dash of Thyme

Dot butter on Chicken Parts--(if using butter)

Bake at 425* for 15 min.

Simmer other ingredients – pour over chicken

Reduce heat and bake at 350* for 45+ minutes until  done, turning chicken pieces twice while cooking

Serves 8 [I piece of chicken plus sauce]  

Sauce is 2.5 WW points per serving  [3 if you use the butter]

This one was one of my mother's standards.  It makes a beautiful presentation, is fairly fail-proof, and always delicious.

Joie de Vivre

E=Joie de Vivre

Little E will begin a two-day-a week preschool next week. I think she's a tiny bit anxious, but mostly she's very happy and excited about it. I took this picture yesterday when I had the children outside.  The weather was beautiful.  E was pulling a mostly deflated, red Trader Joe's balloon on a long red ribbon round and round the big garden bed.  J, who took his first steps only weeks ago was toddling as fast as he could after her, trying to get the balloon. They were both laughing and giggling. I aspire to E's joie de vivre.  Joyful is good.

I had a great ride this morning. I rode from home to Mount Vernon along the Mount Vernon Bike Trail.  The last mile or so has a few serious hills, but I was able to ride all the way.  I have a membership card to Mt Vernon and, after locking my bike, I took a nice walk through the grounds. I've been in the house recently, so this time, taking advantage of the great weather, I spent my time in the gardens.  I started back and was amused to see that going the other direction bicyclists are advised to dismount because of the steep downhill.  No.Way!  I earned that downhill part. :D  I turned off the trail to make my way home through a park and some pretty neighborhoods.  I went 17+ miles overall.  It felt great.  Oh, and I wore my snazzy bike shoes with no problems.


Tomorrow I want to get in a long-ish run in the morning. Then, at 11, I'm going to try out a yoga for beginners class. I have done some yoga with my Wii, but think I could benefit from a real live teacher.  The class is free with our gym membership. DH was going to come too, but he's doing pro-bono legal work through a DC  church.

I've started logging my daily weight on physics diet. You may know that I weigh myself every morning and record the weight in my journal.  Minor ups and downs are normal, but I'd read about averaging the weights to get a moving average that shows you more accurately how you're doing. Here's my graph for the past 10 days or so.  You can see clearly the red parts that represent our days on our Bike Holiday.  Red is not good. Those are days when my weight is above the projected loss trend.  The green parts are days when I'm at or below the trend for weight loss. Green is good. I look forward to accumulating lots of green chart territory ahead. Interestingly, your individual weight doesn't have to be lower than the previous day's weight to be in the green territory. 


Hope your weekend is filled with joy!